Koma Inu Magical Academy: Philosophy and Morals
Day one Tojima placed his mask on his desk before making his way to the front of the class. He cleared his throat nervously, having never been good at being the center of attention. He took in a deep breath. "Hello, Class. Welcome to Philosophy and Morals. My name is Tojima Shisen and I will be your teacher for as long as your remain in this class. Before we begin discussing what will be expected of you, I thought that maybe I'd tell you a bit about myself." Tojima said placing a lacrima into a small machine next to him. " As I said before my name is Tojima Shisen, I am twenty-eight years old. My wife of the same age, Is named Annalina. Many of you may already know her as this campuses nurse." Tojima said using the lacrima to show his and Annalina's wedding photo." We have been married for nearly four years now and have two children, our first child, Adrian and our second, Emery." Tojima said projecting a picture of two small children. " We also have another child on the way some time in the next several months." Tojima said with a smile. The smile faded. "Forgive me if I didn't give you all a lot of information about me. I've never been the type to talk about myself. If you have any further questions about me you may ask Annalina. My profile is also available in the public records if you truly feel you need to know more than my wife or I are willing to tell you." Tojima said, turning the lacrima off. Tojima cleared his throat. "So, I believe it is time that I got to know some of you. So please introduce yourselves when I point to you." Tojima said pointing at a student to his right. Standing up quickly, a handsome looking boy wearing a fitted suit, runs his finger through his light brown hair. Thrusting his thumb into his chest, the boy speaks loudly, "The name is Sanji Atoddo! First year student specializing in Light Magic and hopefully close combat. I'm here to surpass my brothers and join one of the strongest guilds in Fiore!" He then sits back down in his desk and lightly punches the boy sitting next to him. The boy rubs his arm lightly, and stands up slowly. "Uhh...I am Ren Akihiko and I use Card Magic. I am excited to learn from this school so I can grow strong and go explore the world." He then fidgets with his hoodie string and slowly sits down, with a small smile. A black haired young woman stands quickly as if ordered to attention. A serious, yet calm look in her eyes. " I am Nora Ashbel. Future head of the Ashbel family. First year student specializing in fire and summoning magic. I have come here in hopes of one day being strong enough to return home knowing I will continue to bring honor to the Ashbel name." She said before bowing respectfully and sitting back down. "Alexander Alastair." spoke the young man who was sitting up in the front. He didn't feel the urge to stand up, thus, kept sitting down. "Nothing really special about me, a Celestial Spirit Mage hoping to surpass the best." finished Alexander as he slightly bowed at the professor. The professor points at a young boy of tall height with blonde hair. He stood up with surprisingly gray posture and introduced him self, "Myy name is Alfred Unik and I am a user of Archive Magic"." I am here to improve my intellect so my magic may become stronger". The door to the classroom opened and a young blond man walked in. He wore dirty ripped jeanes and a messy untucked white collored shirt. He made his way to the back of the classroom and sat down in a chair. Rayden propped his feet up against the desk and muttered, "Sorry I'm late." Tojima glared at the young man. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it, trying to find the words he was looking for. "Hello, welcome to my class. Please stand up and introduce yourself, and if you wouldn't mind. Explain why you were late." He shrugged and stood. "My name is Rayden. I use God Slayer Magic. I was late because I was getting my stitches removed." Rayden unbuttoned his shirt further to reveal the scar stretching over his chest. "So sorry." He said sarcastically. The blond then sat back down and returned his feet to their previous positon on his desk. Tojimas glare was unwavering, emotionless. " Meet me after class. We'll talk then, but as for now we will return to our lesson." Tojima said. Rayden flashed a cocky smile, first day, first class, first five minutes in school and he'd already managed to piss one teacher off. It was what he believed was a new record. " Right and wrong. The idea of what falls under one or the other has plagued humanity since the dawn of it's existence, but how could this be?. Right and wrong are such obvious things. A fine line remains between them at all times, right?. Let me ask you. How may of you consider killing another human to be wrong?. Let me rephrase that. Is killing bad?." Tojima asked. Rayden spoke, his voice unusually on edge. "It depends on who you're killin'. If I was killing the bastard who put a lacrima in me, I'd call it fair. If I was killing an innocent kid, it's evil." Tojima smirked. "Exactly, It all depends on the reason. So many people are so willing to see the world in nothing more than black and white, but in reality. The world is made up of millions of different shades of grey. Now Rayden, let me ask you something. You said killing an innocent child would be evil and wrong, right?. What if the death of that child would save a thousand people?. Does that single innocent child's life outweigh the lives of a thousand others?. Would killing that child still be wrong?. Would the one doing it still be evil?." Tojima asked. "No. You'd kill the child. It would save a greater population." He replied. Tojima shrugged. " Some may argue otherwise, however, I personally agree with you. Good Job, Rayden. Perhaps I misjudged you. One last question for you Rayden and then we will move on. You mentioned that it was alright to kill the child because doing so would save a greater population. Now lets say that the one thousand people were the scum of the earth, criminals rotting in prison. Does the population argument still hold water or is the child's life suddenly much more important?" Tojima asked "..." Rayden thought for a moment. Considering Tojima's question. "It depends on if those criminals were framed, or if they had a possible purpose to advance society. If not, the child." He said. Although he hated school he was quite intelligent and a natural tactician. Tojima seemed disappointed. " I believe you have the right idea but are asking the wrong questions. You have potential, that it certain, but it is up to you to take the steps needed to let that potential blossom. Forget about seeing me after class, but don't be late to my class again." Tojima said before turning to the other children. " Anyone else want to take a stab at the question I just asked Rayden?." Tojima asked. Sanji raised his hand casually, a puzzled look plaguing his face. "I believe this question focuses more on a person's own moral compass. I do agree with Rayden on the prior questions, but in regards to the criminal question I think it comes down to a person's own definition of right and wrong, and if they could live with guilt. Personally, I would still only take one life. Yes criminals have committed wrong doings, but can still change. The previous questions made us think in terms of saving the population, but as soon as you bring in a sense of morality, a person's decision becomes shaky. I personally think that killing thousands of criminals would justify the taking of a human life again, where as only killing the child is the decision that preserves the most of human life at the time." Sanji then takes a deep sigh as he continues to rack over the problem. Next to him, Ren is still playing with his hoodie strings, but pipes up to add a side comment to Sanji's answer. "The only issue there is that the person who did the killing would have to live with the guilt of taking an innocent life. But hopefully they would cling to the idea that the thousand of criminals would go on to produce more innocent children to take the place of the one lost." " Yes, as I stated before. Nothing is as simple as black and white. Morality is subjective. Referring to the question I asked earlier, no matter what choice you decided to make. Someone would see what you did as wrong. Which brings me to the point I am trying to make. One day each of you will be out there in the world as full fledged mages, no longer students in a classroom. You will all inevitably face tough decisions. I just want all of you to know that sometimes, there is no definite right or wrong answer and that's alright. Don't worry about what others will think of you, follow your own heart. Do what you think is right, because if you don't, you'll regret it everyday for the rest of your lives. We're not gods or heroes, we're human, flawed. We cannot allow ourselves to go our whole lives believing we can save everyone, and at the same time we must not believe that we can save no one. Everyone can save someone, even if the it is only themselves. That's enough." Tojima said with a soft smile. Tojima nodded. " Let's move on to philosophy." Tojima said. Using a light pen, Tojima wrote a quote on the board. "The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding." Tojima said. " Can anyone tell me who said that?." Tojima asked. " Extra points if you tell me what you think this quote is trying to say." Tojima said. "No clue who said that, I'm not a big fan of books but, it's probably tryin' to say that even decisions that mean well, could cause harm." Rayden said yawning. He wasn't really interested in this course but he had to take an elective. " I ask you to please raise your hand next time." Tojima said to Rayden. " You are correct for the most part but I feel you are looking at it far too broadly. Can anyone tell me whose quote this is and what they think it means?." Tojima asked, looking around the room. Nora hesitated but raised her hand. " The quote is from Albert Campus. I believe that he was trying to say that good intentions are meaningless without understanding. I mean, people are ignorant, believing that they already know what needs to be done, what's right, but without trying to understand others and their ideas. People usually end up doing more harm than good even if they meant well." Nora said. Tojima nodded. "Very good, Nora. Anyone else want to give their thoughts or does everyone agree with Nora?." Tojima asked. Alfred raised his hand as well and said, "A person's morals are based on just there idea of what's more important or not. I agree with Nora and would like to add on that Campus would possibly also like to say that it may symbolize that the ignorance of people is what causes person to do harm when meaning well. If there was no ignorance then the intentions of that person would prove true". Then Alfred frowned and said once more ,"second thought, I shouldn't speak". Tojima nodded. "Well said, Alfred. Don't be afraid to speak up. This class is about talking, sharing ideas and thoughts. This is a class meant to make you think, to enlighten your minds with bold and new ideas. This class does not get anywhere unless we all contribute." Tojima said before getting back to the lesson. "Ignorance in itself is not harmful, it is the illusion of knowledge. It is the arrogant and cocky who do the most harm, not only to others but to themselves as well." Tojima said. He checked his watch, let's take a break. When we return we will analyze a few more quotes and then I will give you this weeks homework. You have fifteen minutes to do as you please before returning." Tojima said. Fifteen minutes later The student found their seats and class began once again. Tojima stood before the class. " I was thinking over the fifteen minutes you were gone. It seems that I have already lost the majority of you. I understand that this class may not be the most interesting and that I am not the most interesting teacher, but I believe that this, like all other classes you take here, is important to further your knowledge and ready you for the world beyond these walls. I truly wish that I could have had the opportunity to go to school, learn from real teachers, read from books that weren't charred and bloodstained. I only wish I had been so lucky." Tojima said. He sighed. " But no matter, on to the lesson at hand. Since, as I had said, many of you seem to have lost interest. I believe it's time for a change of plans. Rather than analyzing quotes for the next hour you will debate the topic of dark guilds. I will split you up into two teams each of you, using both philosophical and moral arguments, will argue one of two sides. The topic will be ' should dark guilds be allowed to exist and function'. Sanji, Nora, and Ren will argue for the existence and function while Alfred, Rayden, and Alexander will argue against. Get in your teams. You have twenty minutes, starting now." Tojima said. Alfred immediately pulled up and Archive screen and started to rapidly type. When he found the evidence on dark guilds that he needed, he hit a big round yellow button. The archive screen widened and showed a whole page in a book about the wrong doings of dark guilds. "First off, Dark Guilds are already known for the trouble they have caused. Robbing, breaking and entering, but most go to the extremes. Killing for money. Most dark guilds are known for at least one person in there guild that kills for money. And that poses a threat to the world! Not only, almost all major incidences that cause casualties and major injuries to humans are caused by dark guilds. Let me not remind you of the Nirvana incident! Or the Tartaros guild that nearly wiped all magic from the face of the Earth!.". After nearly eighteen minutes of hearing no one other than Alfred speak, Tojima sighed. He stood and walked up at the front of the classroom. "I had hoped that I could wake you all up with a bit of group activity. Give you something more interesting to focus your minds on, However, it seems that that too has done no good.Class dismissed, I will see you all again on Wednesday." He said before returning to his desk with a defeated look on his face.